LONG-HELD THEORY FOUND UNTRUE AMONG MORMONS

12/19/2018 2:58:22 PM

It has been long-established that in a family with more siblings, it is likely that the children receive less years of education. A new study by a research team led by Ben Gibbs, BYU Sociology professor, has detected that there are exceptions to this pattern. A major deviation is the Mormons.

Mormons are the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day-Saints. Despite their large family sizes, there is a negative relationship observed between their number of siblings and their years of schooling. It is 66% lesser than among those in other religious groups. Gibbs and team have figured out the reasons for this. They found that the Mormons alleviate child raising responsibilities in three main ways.

First, approximately 90% of their children have adult mentors in their church fellowships. This gives them significant encouragement, whereas this percentage is just 50 among other religious teens. Second, this community donates their income to the church to help families during financial hardships and needs. Third, the Mormon religious doctrine encourages and prioritizes education.

“As Mormons believe that the glory of God is intelligence, this often translates to get as much education as possible" stated Gibbs.